


Karina's Legacy

by TeiTimidea



Category: Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Super, Dragon Ball Z
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Dragon Ball Z - Freeform, Gen, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-19 12:44:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11313663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeiTimidea/pseuds/TeiTimidea
Summary: There are many people who dream about being brought to  their favorite universe. There are those who write about it, make comics or video series' about it --- the question I'd like to ask you is this: the day it finally happens, the day when the wall between what you thought was fact and fiction is blurred to the point of nonexistence, what will you do?I can't answer for you, but I can answer for me. I'm gonna make some serious changes. Who am I?I'm Karina.





	1. Where it all Began

Prologue

 

Teira let out an airy sigh, hanging up her backpack as a storm raged outside her home. _‘It’s the first day of summer vacation, and the weather is already terrible – just_ _my luck… what else could possibly go wrong today_ _..!’_ She trudged up the stairs – her left knee nearly buckling beneath her as she did so – not hearing the ‘hello’ of her mother, nor caring much for the loud gaming of her brother and his two friends.

No, she simply slinked to her bedroom, locking the door and stripping down to the bare minimum: a tank top and boxers, which was the most comfortable outfit she could ever imagine for lounging around; sitting down on her rather large beanbag chair, she grasped for her her Xbox One controller, and loaded up the system with the push of a button, pausing to move her hair back over a bruise on her cheek.

You see, as per usual, Teira had a rough day; for the most part, it was her own fault. Whether it was being far too timid to debate a rude remark directed at her, or too weak to fight back when a group of kids decided to give her a ‘goodbye beating’, she just didn’t find herself in the best of circumstances on the last day of school… Nevertheless, she was home, and – to her – that was all that mattered.

Taking a pause from the navigation of her system, she pulled her phone out to check a notification: _Dragon Ball Theory – Toki-Toki’s Infinite Timeline Conundrum._ Raising an eyebrow, she puts on the video and sets the phone down beside herself, the video starting up with the YouTuber’s energetic intro.

Meanwhile, she would pop into her ‘Games’ section, selecting her new favorite game: Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 --- in there, she could be anyone she wanted to be; she could be a Saiyan, an Ice-Jin, a Namekian, or even a Majin…! Yet, for some reason, she chose Human. The ‘most balanced’ race the game had to offer.

“ _So today, we’re going to talk about Toki-Toki; does a new timeline_ _really_ _get created every time they lay an egg? If so, does it just branch off of an existing timeline, or does it get caused by a time-related anomaly? We’re going to discuss this today-!”_

Teira smiled, the theory video fading into the background as her eyes landed on her character: Karina, Level 12. Not much, but the backstory she was creating for the girl would almost be envious to her.

‘ _She’s so smart and cocky; she’s not afraid to say what’s on her mind… and she definitely wouldn’t let herself get thrown around by a couple of bullies...’_

With a heavy sigh, she selected Karina, only for the game to load up to… a map area that looks almost like the Room of Spirit and Time, apparently. This got her attention, and distanced the thoughts that were troubling her a bit, though they were still there. “Huh…? What’s this..?” She leaned in closer, just in time for the lights to flicker thanks to the storm.

“Shit-!” Her hand couldn’t cover her mouth in time to fully muffle the swear, but she was fairly confident that nobody heard it. Situating herself back into her beanbag chair, she took it as a sign to just sit back and explore this odd map she’d been dropped into.

She moved her character around; the animation played and the footstep sounds were playing. She could jump and use all the interactions she would normally be able to in the hub world; hell, she could even use her vehicle. But where was she in-game, and just how could she get out of it?

Off in the distance, maybe a couple pixels in size, was some sort of dark object; if she squinted, she could just barely make it out on her television. _‘Well, I guess that’s a start...’_ She mused, hopping on her vehicle and chugging along.

For reference as to how long the trip of sorts took, the ten-minute theory video had long since ended. Had Teira payed any mind to it? Surprisingly, no; she spent most of the time simply trying to further discern whatever object was off in the distance.

“You’re kidding me… please tell me this isn’t just a texture or something...” When her character had arrived, all ‘Karina’ was met with was a black void. She finally got closer to it, and a blurry texture – a reflection, she presumed – was clearing up…

Her controller hit her lap as blood drained from her face; staring back at Karina was a playermodel that looked identical to how she looked in that given moment, down to the pudge peeking from beneath her tank top.

“Okay, hah… real fun, but I think I’ll be done now-” She tried to exit the game, only to get no response from the game; she tried moving her character like she had been for so long, to no avail. As she stood up to turn off the system manually, her character inched forward.

‘ _This is getting freaky. I need to shut this down right_ _**now** _ _.’_ She panicked as the power button did nothing; her hair stood up as if she had rubbed a balloon against it; her in-game counterpart mimicked it, as Karina was mere inches from the void. Karina’s hand reached into the void as Teira reached for the power plug.

A cry of fear parted Teira’s lips as her hand went numb, and her arm suddenly felt heavy as a brick. Limp at her side, her arm was entirely useless. “Whatever this is, it isn’t funny anymore- fuck!” She didn’t even try to keep that swear down as her legs gave out, sending her crashing to the floor with a resounding thud, almost in sync with a roar of thunder.

Her good arm inched towards the plug, as numbness spread through her body, darkness beginning to enclose on her vision from the edges. “H-help...” She slurred out, fingers brushing the plug; they wrapped around it, and she would proceed to yank the chord from the-

…

…

…

“...” Teira floated in a void much like the one she had seen on the game, her lungs burning for oxygen; wherever she was, there wasn’t much of the precious resource. She could see, but without light there was nothing _to_ see.

She would float there for who knows how long, her lungs feeling like they were shriveling up with every second; as the hold of unconsciousness began to close in around her, and she shut her eyes.. As Teira began to accept her fate…

“Oi, you.” A rough, female voice rang out; Teira’s eyes opened, and met with wide, blue orbs. “Come on, you’re better than that.” The girl moves back a little, her right hand palm-up with a flickering white orb of some sort of plasma hovering above it.

The blue eyes, the spiky crimson hair… her outfit; there was no mistaking who it was; she managed to weakly croak out a name. “K-karina…?” With that, the redhead’s face appeared to brighten.

“Yep! Now, if you want to live, y’gotta trust me; not like you have any other options, so here’s the plan-” Why could she speak, breathe, exist so effortlessly in this environment? What was going on!?

“-Hey! I just told you you’re better than this!” Teira’s eyes opened up again, and Karina snarled lightly. “Look, if you want to survive then place your hand on my chest; I’ll handle it from there.” With a look of unease, Teira placed her hand palm-down atop Karina’s chest, the cloth of the redhead’s gi shifting.

“Good luck; trust me, you’re gonna need it… I’d say see ya’ on the other side-” Karina’s whole body began to glow, almost looking like a black and white outline as her voice grew quieter. “-but I ain’t a liar...” This statement would flood Teira with panic, but it was too late to stop. The glow surrounding her character became blinding, and once more she was in a complete sensory-deprived state, this time whiting out instead of blacking out…

End, Prologue.


	2. A Time of Adjustment

Chapter 1

 

Pain. A searing pain is coursing through Teira when she comes to, eyes still shut; she could tell that she was lying on the ground, but the redhead almost felt pinned to it. _‘What..? What’s going on?’_ Her eyes slowly opened, and she found herself in a panic as she would soon see flames licking the air, slowly closing in on her body while the white expanse loomed forebodingly around her. She pushed against the hot ground, trying to sit up, in a complete panic.

“C-come on, damnit…!” She snarled out, pausing for a split second as her voice didn’t sound quite right to her. _‘My voice…?’_ It came out rougher, almost gruff; must be dehydration, though. This heat could do that to her, probably. Nevertheless, her efforts to get up would continue. Teira rolled over onto her stomach, teeth grit while she pushed with all her might; she slowly but surely managed to get onto her hands and knees, with a new problem presented to her in that moment.

‘ _My hands feel like they’re on top of a stove… and the stove is turned on…!’_ With a light swear, she used every bit of effort she could muster, pushing herself up into a standing position at an agonizingly slow rate; every moment her quaking knees just screamed for her to fall back down, as she fought every danger sign in her body to keep going. A bi g issue she noticed, was that she felt as if she weighed a literal _ton_!

Every small movement towards standing up was agonizingly painful for her, Teira’s body not used to this kind of strain as she struggled; she’d yet to pay attention to anything but standing up, not even her general surroundings, beyond the basics. Almost hurting herself in one final push, Teira let out a cry and stood up straight, tall. It felt like it took everything she got, but…

‘ _I have to get out of here, wherever here is… if I don’t then I’m going to die for sure…!’_ She finally looked around to observe her surroundings, and a bit of a ways away, her eyes focused in on something scarily familiar; her surroundings began to make sense, and realization finally struck. _‘I’m… I’m in the f’ing Room of Spirit and Time!’_

There would be time for shock later, but Teira could feel the ground becoming more and more inviting with each passing second; her window of time in which to get moving was running low. If she could just get herself going, then she was absolutely sure she could make it to the building, and hopefully out of the door.

Lungs burning, and body ready to collapse whenever, she lifted a leg. Stepping forward, she nearly collapsed again, her foot making a resounding thud which echoed; the flames didn’t part for her; no, they licked at her leg, which she noted was covered by some sort of baggy green pants… They were so familiar, and yet she couldn’t identify them.  _‘I don’t have time for this. Keep going, me!’_

Another step forward, each one carrying on the small amount of momentum she had gathered in the previous movement; slowly she was gaining momentum, and with that her speed overall was increasing. The building – at first – seemed to never grow closer, with minutes blurring together as she increased her pace in the slightest of ways every step.

Still, a slight increase many times over proved to be a great increase over time. She was finding herself in a near-sprint as time went on, but she was only able to move on thanks to the momentum which she had put so much of her strength into creating; the chamber building was so close! Teira was rapidly losing speed, but she kept on going towards it-!

‘ _Ten feet away, come on…!’_ Her leg slammed against the ground, propelling her a couple feet forward. _‘Five…!’_ A smaller step, as she felt that leg give out moments after leaving the ground. Her foot – planted against the ground – grazed the edge of the building’s steps “ **Come on-!** ” With her final ounces of strength, she sent herself out of the heavy gravity, tumbling across the floor of the chamber’s living space.

Lying there on the floor, she felt the hold of consciousness releasing her, as the warm embrace of sleep gripped her tight; there would be no more effort, not until she rested…

 

\-- KL01--

 

Her eyes slowly opened, a soft groan escaping her as she rolled onto her stomach, this time with much less effort needed; her stomach ached, completely empty, but there were some questions she needed to have answered, first. Pushing to her feet, she took note that she’d yet to brush hair out of the way of her vision.  _ ‘Normally, my hair bothers me so much that I’ve almost cut it off before; what’s different now?’ _

The bathroom was easy to find, considering the building is a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and lobby of sorts. Shaking her head, she leaned against the sink and stared at her reflection… Only to see Karina staring back at her. When she pushed away and let out a cry of surprise, the reflection did the same; back against the wall opposite the mirror, Teira was in a light panic.

“This is insane, there’s no way this is actually happening!” She blurted out in shock, looking down at herself. The dark blue gi above dark green under-clothing was definitely on her body – no doubt about it. Honestly, Teira thought she would pass out, but she was able to calm down faster than ever. “Okay, calm down… Just run through what happened, and how y’got here..”

Shakily, she moved across the bathroom to stand before the mirror once more, staring at it and remembering her short encounter with Karina.

“ __ **-Hey!** I just told you you’re better than this!” Teira’s eyes opened up again, and Karina snarled lightly. “Look, if you want to survive then place your hand on my chest; I’ll handle it from there.” With a look of unease, Teira placed her hand palm-down atop Karina’s chest, the cloth of the redhead’s gi shifting.  
  
Good luck; trust me, you’re gonna need it… I’d say see ya’ on the other side-” Karina’s whole body began to glow, almost looking like a black and white outline as her voice grew quieter. “-but I ain’t a liar...” 

She thought long and hard about those moments, moving away from the mirror so she could eat while she did; anything that didn’t take prep time would do, really. Grabbing an apple, she began to think.  _ ‘I placed my hand on her chest, and she lit up like an effing Christmas tree with one too many lights on it; but what happened next…?’ _

A couple more apples, and some glasses of water would go down the hatch; her stomach still complained, but she was placating its rage little by little.  _ ‘Is it possible that we were combined into one? But that’s impossible! The only types of fusion are Metamoran and Potorra! What could have- Wait, Namekian fusion works this way… but neither of us was or is Namekian!’ _

With a slight idea as to how they pulled off a completely impossible fusion, new thoughts were popping into her mind: Why was she in Karina’s body? Did their personalities merge? Was Karina still alive within her, or was she Karina? The last one was somewhat easy to answer…  _ ‘So I’m in Karina’s body, and my personality has changed… I don’t think it’s completely hers, but it’s safe to say that I’m mostly Karina.’ _

Yet – oddly enough – she couldn’t get mad; it was weird and almost upsetting, to think that most of her had become foreign, but it also meant that she wasn’t just a normal human. In fact, she began to wonder if that was perhaps how she could even stand up in the chamber, because she was stronger and more durable than ever-!

“That just leaves one issue...” She mumbles aloud to herself, figuring it’s better to get used to her voice; she tosses the core of her apple into the compacting trash bin, before continuing. “...if I’m in the time chamber, no matter what time period this universe is in, whoever the guardian is will pro’lly have a few questions for me, huh..” Sniffing a bit, Teira, or, Karina…? Had no doubt of one thing: she absolutely smelled.

“Probably best not to go out there smelling like a gym after closing, though…” She briskly crossed the building, returning to the bathroom in order to strip down; upon slipping off the overclothes, she thought about something… “I wonder..” She would slip off her boots, finding they hit the floor with a heavy clunk. “Weighted...” Indeed, she did find it a bit easier to move around; next, she took off her undershirt.

In addition to finding it was  _ also  _ weighted, she discovered her chest tightly bound. “Hn… barely even noticed; strange...” She shimmied out of her gi bottoms, exposing her wide hips. The pants weren’t weighted, but that was no surprise; she would undo the bandages or tape of sorts on her hands, followed by unwrapping her chest.

“Fuck-!” Her mildly bountiful chest would jut out on her chest, jiggling a bit once it realized it was free of its restraints. “How odd...” She murmured, before remembering that she _had_ given a large chest as the reason Karina bound herself. “Gh, what other small details are gonna come back to bite me?” She mumbled, pulling off the boxers that remained. 

With that out of the way, she eyed the bath almost lustfully...

 

\--KL01--

 

Teira let out a light sigh, drying herself with a towel; the bath was definitely refreshing, and – with a fresh body and mind – she believed she would be far better off from that point on.  _ ‘I should probably just get out of here… then again, it couldn’t hurt to stay for a bit longer, could it…?’ _ After all, if she was a strong fighter, perhaps it might not hurt her if she were to try and harness control of her ki before leaving. 

Seating herself on one of the two beds close to the bathroom, she crossed her legs and closed her eyes. “Deep breaths, Tei...” She coached herself. “In and out...” Each breath the took, her body seemed to pick up what she couldn’t, slowly pulling her into a meditative state before she even fully processed it. Likely, it was the Karina portions of her that would be assisting her.

Her mind was like a black void as she cleared her thoughts..  _ ‘White expanse outside of a black void, eh...’  _ The pieces seemed like they were coming together; perhaps the black void she’d seen in the game, was her own mind… or was it Karina’s? It would make more sense for it to be the latter, especially if that’s the void wherein she had fused with the redhead. Maybe that’s why she’s Karina in every way, except for – only partially – the mind?

Her thoughts were getting away from her; she needed to focus. A deep breath, and she searched for her energy. She would recognize it as a warm light, pulsing within her; she eventually found it, lightly grabbing it and trying to pull it out.  _ ‘Come on… If I’m partly Karina, then I should know how to do this...’ _ Teira focused harder, giving a little tug. Her energy showed resistance, but it slowly gave in, melting into her focus.

It flowed through her body, going up her arms. Palms cupped together, a ball of energy gradually welled to life, growing to look like a miniature yellow star in her hands. Teira slowly opened her eyes, focusing on maintaining the orb… the minutes passed, and she found she was holding it more effortlessly.  _ ‘Thank you, Karina...’  _ She thought lightly, releasing the ball and letting it dissipate.

There would be more time to practice later, but she figured it best to leave, in case she needed this time in the future. “Well, it’s now or never…” She thought with a light laugh, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. Her clothes were sufficiently dry now after a bit of a washing; she had set them close to the edge of the building, where heat was still raging.

Sans the binding of her chest and the bandages around her knuckles, Teira was back in her now-clean getup. Her shoes tapped against the floor, and she took her place in front of the door. Fingers wrapping around one of the handles, she gave it a light squeeze. “Here goes...” She pulled the door open, growing dizzy for a moment as the time dilation slowly lessened, to match up with the normal flow of time…

End, Chapter 1


	3. Trapped on the Lookout

Chapter 2

 

Her vision gradually cleared itself, and she felt herself grow a bit nervous as her eyes landed on the old, wrinkled guardian of earth. _‘Well, sure; now I know I’m in the pre-Cell area, but I’m also getting stared down by someone I doubt I can 1-on-1.’_ Kami took calm steps towards Teira, with Popo watching from afar, having been watering the plants on the Lookout.

“Hello there-” Kami spoke in his roughened voice, clearly confused as to how Teira had managed to get into the Room of Spirit and Time. “-what brings you here, and may I ask how you have managed to sneak into the Room of Spirit and Time without me or Mr. Popo’s knowledge?” Yep, she would have to think quick in order to get out of this one.

‘ _Ohh boy; and this is the part I didn’t plan...’_ Clearing her throat, she began to string together an excuse in a very jumpy fashion. “W-well ah, you see...” She almost jumped as Kami’s eyes narrowed. The honest answer would probably work out best for her --- how honest would she have to be in order to convince him, though?

‘ _Well, here goes nothin’. Worst-case scenario he’ll probably read my mind. While that certainly ain’t a good thing for him to do, given my knowledge of things to come, it also wouldn’t be bad because then I’d have someone else who knew about my past.’_ Still, Teira felt it best to hide the truth – mostly, that is – for the time being. “I won’t lie to you; I woke up in there, and – not only do I have no idea how I got there in the first place – I think I was lucky to get out of there with my life.”

Kami stared intently at Teira.  _‘This young woman’s power level rivals even the power of Goku’s when he was a young teen. How would she have gotten this strong? Did she spent a year in the chamber, and now is trying to deceive me? This is certainly troubling...’_ Still, Kami felt that there was always reason to give the benefit of the doubt. 

“Well, I’m afraid that – unless you are aware of how to fly – you have found yourself in a sticky situation.” Motioning for her to follow him, Kami turned and slowly made his way to the edge of the Lookout, his ‘walking stick’ of sorts clacking against the tile with each step. “You see, this place is miles above the surface; it is from here that I look over the planet, and monitor the state of affairs.”

A chill shot through Teira as she herself peered over the edge, the redhead having grown pale for a moment. A safe step back wouldn’t hurt, right? “W-wow...” She mumbled out uncertainly, the surreal feeling she’d been having near-constantly returning with a vengeance. “That’s, uh… that’s pretty high up.” As for flying, she had no idea if she could.

“I’m not sure about flying, sir...” She started, before gently holding her hand out palm-up. “But I can do this, if that helps...” Her gaze steeled on her hand, as she attempted to reach the familiar sensation her energy gave off without going into meditation. It took a moment of her focusing and Kami staring, but a ball of energy would appear, hovering idly above her palm.

“That is most certainly a start.” Kami responded, growing more interested in this mystery girl as she would demonstrate herself further. “If you want to know how to fly in the most basic sense, I would say it’s simply doing the same thing as you have just done, but instead pushing the energy out from the soles of your feet.” Kami’s robes began to wave and flutter as wind picked up, and the Guardian of Earth hovered a couple of feet off the ground.

Seeing it up close was insane for Teira, and she nodded. Kami descended back to the tile floor with a slow movement, and she felt it was her turn to try. “I’ll give it my best shot.”  _‘Anything to keep from more questions of how I got into the ROSAT...’_ She thought with a light, nervous laugh. She reacquainted herself with the same focus she had been toying with thus far, but chose to manifest her energy from her feet rather than-

With a cry of surprise, she sent herself backward, landing on her back as smoke came from the floor; somehow, she had managed to form energy blasts between her boots and the floor, resulting in a bit of an explosion; world spinning from the sudden change from standing to on the floor, Teira was just a bit disorient ed.

The old Namekian let out a chuckle.  _‘This girl is proving to be very interesting, and quite humorous!’_ He glanced up, giving Popo a nod to return to what he was doing; though the girl had power, it was clear her control over it was lacking; he had no doubt much of this was not as it seemed, but there had been – as far as he knew – no deception from the girl yet.

Getting to her feet, Teira returned to a calm posture, and once more attempted to separate herself from the tiles beneath her feet, in a less explosive manner. Her Uwa-gi began to wave very slightly, excitement leaking into her mind as she found herself floating just a bit off the ground. Her focus broke as she glanced up to see Kami’s expression, though, and she landed with a noise of surprise.

Kami was smiling, but also knew that with her focus so flaky, the redhead would no doubt lose focus during her descent and fall to her death, from the heights of the Lookout or a bit lower. _‘_ _I’m not quite sure what to think of this girl...’_ He would observe as she once more tried flying, only for her excitement to make her fall once more.

‘ _Who knows; perhaps she may find herself as my student for a short while; she reminds me of Goku in some way that I simply cannot describe…’_

 

\---KL02---

 

After a good hour or so, Teira had been able to hover and move around a bit, but her fear of heights found itself kicking in, and leading her to descent – not always gracefully, mind you – once more. By the time she stopped, she was rather drained. Kami had called for Mr. Popo, who led her into the chambers of the Lookout.

There she was, in a small room with a bed; they had taken her clothes somewhere, leaving her in only some bandages over her private regions; they had offered her the bandages, for the time when she’d be lacking clothes. Allowing herself to fall back onto the bed, Teira felt the desire to sleep slowly consuming her.

‘ _I need to get down from here, but it’s not like I can just fly down or ask to be flown down; my damned fear of heights is keeping me up here...’_ Among the cons, though, she considered a pro. _‘Maybe I can convince Kami to train me while I’m up here? It’d help me gauge my strength. Plus, I can’t sense energy so that would be useful...’_

It seemed that not all of Karina’s knowledge – especially the Kaio-Ken, though she could feel it itching in the deep recesses of her mind – had been opened up to her, but instead she was given bits and pieces, fragmented amidst whatever had happened to combine them into one being, with Teira at the helm.

“Gh… I can worry about that later, though.” She murmured in a dulled manner, pulling the thin sheet of the bed over her mildly curvaceous form. Eyes lidded, Teira was happy to slip into her slumber, until she would awaken the next day.

 

End Chapter 2


End file.
